set theory 5

Hokuto: (Hm. It took longer than expected, but everything is still going according to plan.)

(I was able to join the drama club successfully. Now I can use my time after school meaningfully by rehearsing for plays and such.)

(I was also able to enroll in Yumenosaki Academy, one of the most prodigious idol training schools in the country and the school which my father went to...)

(As long as I work diligently in class, I’m sure I’ll become more competent.)

(I’ll become an idol like my father. And I will become an actor like my mother.)

(Yumenosaki Academy also has a theater course, but I thought it would be more efficient to join the drama club while enrolled in the idol course.)

(I have no doubts I made the correct choice.)

(All that’s left is to keep working hard... and eventually I will become somebody important, like my parents.)

(I’ll never let anyone say I’m riding their coattails again.)

(It’s fine. Everything is laid out correctly. It will all work out for me.)

(...But will it really?)

(I can’t shake this uneasy feeling. It seems like no one here is serious about being an idol.)

(I won’t be corrupted by people around me, but sometimes it does feel almost nonsensical to be so serious.)

(And then the president of the drama club criticized me, saying I had no talent. I can’t help but think my effort is wasted.)

(Was this really the right thing to do? Am I doing all of this for nothing?)

(Am I misunderstanding the very premise and leading myself in the wrong direction?)

(Someone, tell me otherwise. Tell me it will work out.)

(...No. I shouldn’t be wishing for someone else. I’m fine on my own; no one else understands how I feel, anyway.)

(How could a wild animal born free ever understand a thoroughbred of the entertainment industry, bred selectively like livestock?)

(Before I look to other for sympathy, I should improve my own skills. I’m not like anyone else.)

(I’ll work a hundred times harder and achieve a hundred times the results—and I’ll deserve it.)

(First, I’ll take advantage of the time I have on my way home to rehearse that play. I’ll use everything I have in life as fuel to make myself shine.)

(And one day, I’ll reach the same heights as my mother and father.)

Heh... I am a prince.

Subaru: ......

Hokuto: (Whoa?! Someone’s there! Did he hear me just now...?)

(No, that’s fine. There’s no problem at all. If I actually got on stage, there would be hundreds of people watching me act.)

(I can’t let myself get embarrassed. I’ll have to train myself to endure that shame.)

(There’s no need to disparage myself for doing my best.)

(...I recognize that face, though. He’s Akehoshi, from my class. What’s he doing out here? It looks like he’s squatting down under the cherry tree.)

(Is he hurt? Or maybe sick? Well, it’s none of my business.)

(He’s the orphaned son of that Akehoshi... I know about him because we’re in similar positions, but I don’t really understand him.)

(He has outstanding abilities and skills—superior to me in every possible way.)

(As frustrating as it is, it’s true. We’re on completely different levels. But I can’t tell what it is he’s trying to accomplish...)

(He never stops talking and he can’t read the room, so everyone keeps their distance.)

(He’s an eccentric, for sure—typical among geniuses. They have too much talent to contain... and they end up floating away.)

(But he doesn’t seem to realize that at all, so he keeps trying to act like everyone else.)

(What an idiot. The stars in the night sky are beautiful because we watch them from a distance. If they start hurtling toward earth, everyone gets scared—and if they make impact, it will be catastrophic.)

(Shouldn’t you have realized that by now?)

Subaru: Hey, you!

Hokuto: ...? Um, yes? Are you talking to me?

Subaru: Yeah, you! So, you said you’re a prince?

Hokuto: ...Were you watching me just now while I was rehearsing?

Subaru: Huh...? I thought my wish came true and a prince fell down from one of the stars in the sky.

Hokuto: Your wish? What would that be? You can have anything you want, can’t you?

You have talent, after all—unlike me.

Subaru: I hate that word, talent. Like, what’s the big deal? Is it something you can’t live without, like one of your organs?

I’d say it’s more like having an extra organ no one else has.

It makes you some kinda different species, I guess.

Maybe that’s why no one wants to be my friend.

Hokuto: What are you saying...? Never mind. Anyway, what are you doing sitting around in a place like this? It gets cold at night this time of year. You’ll get a cold.

You should go home and warm up so that you’re ready for tomorrow.

Every day is a new battle, and the first to let down their guard dies. Isn’t that right, Akehoshi?

Subaru: Yup. Um... aren’t you in the same class as me? Hidaka-kun, right?

Hokuto: Who did you think I was?

Subaru: I just told you: I thought you were a prince from some faraway place. I mean, you kinda have that vibe, anyway.